Modern Manners

 

8.5A          

Ruth:          Now, I must say, I hate people being late. I always try to arrive exactly on time, myself. I think it's very rude to be late. Don't you, Florence?

Florence:    Mmmm… My friends are quite often late. Personally, I think you should arrive within an hour of the time that you were invited. But some of my friends are much later than that. But I think the most important thing is to stay in touch and let the person know if you're going to be late. Just send a text or… whatever. Then it's not such a problem, hopefully.

Ruth:          Well, I must say, it's a problem for me.

Florence:    Mmmm… Hm. I'll bear that in mind when I'm meeting you next time, Gran. I'll make sure I'm not late. I don't want to get into trouble.

 

8.5B          

Florence:    Mmm… When we meet, we generally hug each other. I mean… it depends. If it's one of my close female friends then we kiss each other but if it's someone you don't know so well, but someone who's still… you know, a friend… you hug each other.

Ruth:          Boys too?

Florence:    Sure. Why not?

Ruth:          When I was young, people would just say 'hello' or shake hands if they hadn't seen each other for a long time. But now there's a lot more kissing, it seems to me. Most people kiss each other on the cheek. Once, usually, though some people kiss on both cheeks and… It's all a bit confusing, really. Of course of my age never kiss each other. If anything, they shake hands. They would definitely never hug or kiss each other. Oh, I can't imagine your Grandpa kissing his friends!

 

8.5C          

Florence:    Ahh… I think on the first date, the guy pays, generally speaking. But I think the woman should definitely offer to pay. After that, it kind of depends who's got the most money, don't you think? I mean if you're both poor students, you probably share the bill. But if one person's got a job and the other one hasn't, then I think the person with money should pay, or at least they should pay more often.

Ruth:          Mmmm… In my day, the man always paid. People expected it. The man would be embarrassed if he didn't pay in a restaurant. But then of course, it's a very long time since I've been on a date, so what do I know?

 

8.5D          

Ruth:          Now, this is something I must say I feel very strongly about. To me, it's the height of rudeness to have a conversation on your mobile phone while you're out with other people. It's just bad manners! You should give all your attention to the people you are with. I think you should definitely switch your mobile phone off. But of course, I'm probably old-fashioned.

Florence:    Personally, if I'm with other people in a restaurant or something, I always switch my phone to vibrate. Otherwise you have phones ringing all night and it's really annoying. But, yeah, I answer my calls and answer my text messages, well, you know, discretely.

Ruth:          Do you? Oh.

Florence:    I mean, I do agree with you in a way. I've got one or two friends who just text all evening long and we all tease them about how boring they are. But I don't think anyone's seriously offended, really. It's just the way it is these days, Gran.

Ruth:          Mmmm.

 

8.5E          

Ruth:          Well, of course, I was always taught that you should a hand-written note and you should send it the very next day. But I suppose that's all very old-fashioned now.

Florence:    Hm Hm Hmmm Not many people of my age send hand-written notes, I must say. But I would always post something on someone's Facebook wall. You know, 'Thanks a lot for last night'. We do still have manners, you know.

Ruth:          Of course. It's just all so different these days.